The ability of organisms to withstand stress is critical for survival, and there is a growing appreciation that cellular stress responses are vital during growth and development. In fact, an increasing number of human diseases-particularly those affecting neurons-arise from defects in stress response pathways or from the inability of stress proteins to protect cells. Stress response pathways have also been linked to ageing, infection, cancer, and metabolic diseases. Not surprisingly, then, significant efforts to modulate the stress response have been taken by biomedical researchers. Therefore, it is critical that a forum is provided to assemble scientists who seek to connect the mechanisms underlying human diseases with the regulation of stress genes and with stress protein function. One of the premier forums for this unique assembly is the Stress Proteins in Growth, Development and Disease Gordon Research Conference (GRC). The next conference, which is the sixth in this series, will be held from July 17th - July 22nd, 2011, at the Il Ciocco Hotel &Resort, Lucca (Barga), Italy. The Chair for this meeting is Lea Sistonen (Ebo Akademi University, Turku, Finland) and the Vice-Chair is Judith Frydman (Stanford University, Stanford, CA). The Il Ciocco Hotel has a long history in supporting GRCs conferences. Thus far, 30 internationally recognized speakers have committed to attending and speaking at the 2011 meeting, including 10 women and one African-American. Nevertheless, significant efforts will be undertaken to increase the diversity of meeting attendees, to bring more scientists into the stress protein field, and to catalyze the formation of new collaborations. To this end, the schedule has been prepared so that 16 speaking slots will be chosen from abstracts submitted for poster presentations, and preference will be given to younger scientists and to those from under- represented groups. The meeting schedule will also be prepared to ensure that new and emerging themes in stress biology and different model systems are equally represented. In addition, meeting attendance will be "capped" at 150 to facilitate effective interactions and discussions. Overall, we seek to enhance the dissemination of cutting-edge advances and the formation of new collaborations in the stress protein field. This, in turn, will lead to advances and broaden our understanding of the roles of stress proteins in human health, aging, and disease. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Cells-especially neurons-live under harsh conditions. There are times when cells are starved for nutrients, times when cells need to exhibit rapid growth, and times when cells are exposed to toxic agents. Cells may also express misshapen proteins, as occurs in Alzheimer's, Huntington's, and Parkinson's disease. However, to offset the dangerous consequences of stress, which can lead not only to disease but also to ageing, cells produce specific proteins to protect themselves. The 2011 Gordon Research Conference, entitled 3Stress Proteins in Growth, Development, and Disease4, brings together scientists who study the link between stress and human disease, and provides a unique forum for researchers in this field to assemble and identify new avenues to prevent stress-related diseases and degenerative processes such as aging.